JD Davis VS Luis Guillorme

Author: Oliver Lang

Editor: Brian Symons

Spring training is in session, and most of the Mets team is decided, with potential all-stars at every position. But one still remains that is stirring up a decent amount of controversy—3rd base. The regular on the corner has been J.D. Davis, as he’s proven he can be an excellent hitter, slugging 22 homers in 2019 and batting .307 in 140 games. While his 2020 performance wasn’t quite as good, he is still a high-quality batter. The one problem with J.D. however, is his glove. While he isn’t the worst defender, he’s definitely not great. Throughout his career, he’s been a negative defense runs saved (DRS) player, which a team trying for a playoff run doesn’t want as a major liability on 3rd base.

On the other side of things is Luis Guillorme. Luis is a potential gold glove quality fielder— he has shown that constantly through the first years of his young career. Many people probably first heard of him from a past spring training when he caught a flying baseball bat as if it were nothing. The point is, he can field really well, and that’s something the Mets desperately need. In fact, Guillorme isn’t even bad at the plate. He just recently had the longest at-bat in baseball history (22 pitches), along with batting over .300 in 2020. However, there’s one problem—in that 2020 season, he didn’t hit a single homerun. He actually only has 1 homerun in his 109 career games. On 3rd base, you really need to have some level of power, and Luis doesn’t have that.

As each is strong in the category the other is weak in, you’d think that it’s a tie sort of situation between them, but that won’t particularly be true. Their skills aren’t the only big thing to factor in here.

The Mets pitching lineup is full of aces this season, including the best pitcher in baseball, Jacob deGrom. For someone like deGrom, who is likely to give up only 1 or 2 hits in most of his starts and strike out pretty much the rest of the batters, having a better bat to give run support is 100% more important, as there’s a good chance the 3rd baseman won’t even have to make a play all game. When deGrom is on the mound, J.D. should be in. On the other side of things, when someone a pitcher like Marcus Stroman, who gets more outs in play, should have the best defense possible, meaning that a top-notch defender like Luis should be in. What this is basically saying is there’s no one or the other— the answer is both. They should both go in the game— when their separate skill sets are most needed.

METS ARE OUR UNIVERSE

New York Mets Farm Report

Author: Spencer Reyes

Editor: Aaron Mesco

Mets fans have a lot to be excited about for the 2021 season, and they can watch how their new team will shape up in Spring Training. The Mets have made a lot of moves within the organization to contend in the postseason by adding a big group of MLB veterans and upgrading their farm system.

Although he has only played in five games, Mark Vientos is doing the best out of the rookie prospects with a batting average of an even .500 as a designated hitter. He traditionally is a third baseman, but so far hasn’t played in the field in 2021. His fielding counterpart, 19-year-old shortstop Ronny Mauricio, has been lighting it up on defense and has shown a lot of promise as the next shortstop for the Mets. He has a lot to prove after the Mets dealt away Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez, who made up the shortstop core in New York. So far, Mauricio has led the rookies to success with a .375 batting average.

A lot of other prospects like Pete Crow-Armstrong, Khalil Lee, and Johneshwy Fargas are still easing into big-league status, but other players like Jake Hager have become accustomed to hitting well against major league pitchers. He even was able to capitalize on his birthday and hit a home run the same day as Pete Alonso hit a grand slam against Houston. You can definitely expect to see more playing time for the top 100 prospect duo of Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez, as they are the shining stars of the future for the New York Mets.

As Spring Training progresses, we will see more prospects shine with playing time, as the Mets manager Luis Rojas has been very open to giving a decent amount of playing time for young players, even if they aren’t slated to make the opening day roster for 2021. It will be interesting to see how all of these new Mets will play with one another and show their future worth for New York. Stay tuned to the Sport and Mets Universes to listen, watch, and read about the progress of these young guns.

Who Will Make the Mets Bullpen?

Author: Frank Caggino

Editor: Mark Awadallah

For the New York Mets during Spring Training, one roster opening has yet to be filled, tthe last bullpen spot. Following the release of Brad Brach and injury to Seth Lugo, the Mets need another reliever for the major league roster. The Mets have invited a ton of different pitchers to Spring Training, to determine who will make the team. In the first week of Spring Training, a few relievers have performed well, but only one might make the opening day roster.

The favorite to make the bullpen is Drew Smith. Smith has been with the Mets for a few years and has some good outings on the MLB level for the Mets. Smith is now two years removed from the Tommy John surgery and has pitched well in Spring Training so far. There is no guarantee that Smith will make the team since other pitchers have done well also.

An intriguing candidate to be in the Mets bullpen, is Sean Reid-Foley. He came to the Mets from the Toronto Blue Jays in the Steven Matz trade. Reid-Foley was effective for the Jays in a very small sample size of games in 2020, having a 1.35 ERA in 5 games. He brings in a valuable element of someone who can start games, which can give the Mets a long reliever. He can come into the game if a pitcher has a bad outing and gets pulled early or gets hurt during the game. Reid-Foley can come in during a blowout, to rest the other pitchers in the bullpen. He had a scoreless outing in his one Spring Training appearance, but there is a lot of Spring Training left.

A player worth mentioning based off his outings in Spring Training, is Trevor Hildenberger. He has pitched well and has been generating strikeouts. The most intriguing thing about Hildenberger, is his delivery as a sidearm pitcher. This can make him useful in certain matchups to give hitters a different look. If he continues to pitch this well, he can end up getting some innings for the Mets this season.

Some other pitchers that are competing include Jacob Barnes, Sam McWilliams, Jerry Blevins, Tommy Hunter, Arodys Vizcanio, and more. All of these pitchers are going to be trying their best because, even if they do not make the Mets major league team, they want to try to make another major league team. It will be interesting to see who makes the team, since the bullpen can be the deciding factor in how the Mets season goes. The lineup is expected to do very well, and the rotation should be vastly improved with Marcus Stroman, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker. The one question mark will be the bullpen because fans do not have trust in some of the pitchers that are guaranteed to be in the bullpen, such as Jeurys Familia and Dellin Betances. Throughout the course of the regular season, a ton of different pitchers will be used. In this year in particular, pitchers may miss games because they are sick or due to contact tracing. These Spring Training games will help decide which pitchers to call up when they need an extra arm. The Mets have not had this kind of depth before and one of these relievers can help finally get the Mets back to the postseason.

METS ARE OUR UNIVERSE